Employees who are trying to earn a living are often forced to stare down the barrel of a robber’s gun. On average, at least four robberies happen every day in Kansas City. (KCTV5)

In Kansas City, MO the number of robberies rose nearly 5percent from 2014 to 2015. Last year 1,701 people got robbed. In 2014, the city had 1,624 robberies. (KCTV5)

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

Employees who are trying to earn a living are often forced to stare down the barrel of a robber’s gun.

On average, at least four robberies happen every day in Kansas City.

“Always when I come here to work, I fear I'm going to die,” once clerk told KCTV5 News.

Convenience store manager MD Shariful Islam says each day he clocks in at work he worries who is going to be coming through the front door.

Islam had never seen a gun in his life. That is until a man burst through the front door of a Fast Trip off Metropolitan in Kansas City, KS and pulled a handgun from his waistband. The robber pointed it directly Islam.

“He just pointed the gun very close to my eyes,” Islam said. “He was saying, ‘don't move.’”

The robber grabbed everything the store had in the cash register. He then bolted out the front door, possibly unaware or too cold to care about the damage he had done.

“I really was upset and really scared,” Islam said. “I was shaking.”

He says he was unable to sleep that night and had a difficult time finishing his shift.

Islam’s boss, Mayan Saxena, knows the dangers of the job all too well. He was robbed at gunpoint at another location he owns in Parkville.

“One of them had it pointed right at my head,” Saxena said.

The two men pistol whipped Saxena even after he gave them the cash they demanded.

“I was taken to the emergency room,” Saxena said. “I was hurt really bad. I had to go to a psychologist.”

Robberies are increasing. In Kansas City, MO the number of robberies rose nearly 5percent from 2014 to 2015. Last year 1,701 people got robbed. In 2014, the city had 1,624 robberies.

Kansas City police solved 14.9-percent of robberies last year, and 85-percent of the robbers were never caught.

“We need to get such people out of the neighborhood and off the streets,” Saxena said.

Raja Khan agrees.

Robbers threatened his life at a 7-Eleven off Grandview Road .

“They pulled a gun on me right here,” Khan said while pointing to the side of his head.

He hopes more can be done to protect clerks around the metro.

“They were crazy. Really crazy,” Khan said. “I thought if I don't give them money they would shoot me. I said, ‘You can have it.’”

Even when clerks comply with demands robbers can get violent.

A robber shot a clerk in the face at a Merriam 7-Eleven off Antioch Road. The clerk who suffered serious injuries survived and never came back to work.

Javon D. Mills, 90, of Overland Park was sentenced to 16 years and 10 months in prison for the shooting. He pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.

During a separate robbery in Overland Park off Shawnee Mission Parkway, robbers dragged a woman by her hair through the store.

“They took her to the back,” the business owner said. “They zip-tied her and they robbed the store.”

Once the robbers left the store, surveillance video showed the woman crumpled to the floor with her hands still zip tied.

Crimes like that can have a long-lasting psychological impact.

“It still sometimes gives me nightmares,” Saxena said about the night he was robbed.

He says he constantly thinks about making it home safe to see his 2-year-old son.

Employees say they wish they knew the answer to stop the robberies from happening.

Sadly, robberies have become so common that they are considered part of the business, business owners tell KCTV5. They’ve added high-tech surveillance systems. Some owners installed additional bullet proof glass protection. Others take steps to have very little cash on hand hoping word will spread they aren’t a good place to rob.

Kansas City, KS police officers offer free robbery prevention seminars for employees and managers trying to help them protect themselves. Investigators in Kansas and Missouri recently teamed up to make arrests in a robbery ring. They believe the suspects were responsible for 21 armed business robberies in both states.

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